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Foreign Minister Meets with Secretary Kerry

Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir met today with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department.

Minister Al-Jubeir's statement as provided by the Department of State:

(In progress) (Via interpreter) – and he met with the king, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. And he met His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Naif, the Crown Prince, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He met His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the Deputy Crown Prince and the Minister of Defense. We held bilateral talks at the ministry of foreign affairs.

On the topics of mutual interest, including the – we – I briefed the Secretary on the meeting of the GCC, and the talks (inaudible) tomorrow on the Paris with the – in Paris with the GCC foreign ministers. We talked about the Camp David on the 13th and 14th of May. We talked about that – the Iranian interventions in the region, the negative interventions, whether in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, or Yemen, or any other places. With regard to Yemen, I have been – I debriefed him on the keenness of Saudi Arabia to send the humanitarian aids to the Yemeni people and the donation of $274 million, a donation from the (inaudible) aids to Yemen. I debriefed (inaudible) with the king (inaudible) and establishing a center in Riyadh to coordinate the relief work. But unfortunately, the keenness of the king and the Saudi Arabia to send the aids to Yemen was very difficult in view of the continuous – of the war operations there, and the (inaudible) and their allies there.

I debriefed him on the (inaudible) of Saudi Arabia. (Inaudible) five days ceasefire in Yemen for coordination with the international organizations to send the aids, humanitarian aids to their (inaudible) in Yemen. The Houthis and their allies should abide by this ceasefire period and do not interfere into – in the way of these efforts, and no hostility actions against – during this period. This will be defined – this period will be defined soon and the details at the – to conclude. I debriefed the Secretary on the big step done by the king in correcting the status of the Yemenis who are in Saudi Arabia in an illegal status, from 2 million to 3 million Yemenis living on the Saudi land and correcting their immigration status. And this will allow them to have jobs to help their families in Yemen back – back in Yemen. This is different from other countries; they are deporting and extraditing the Yemenis and put them in camps for the refugees. And Saudi Arabia working for the interest and the dignity of our Yemeni brothers, whether in Yemen or in Saudi Arabia. For this reason, Saudi Arabia has taken, by direction of the king – this big step is unprecedented in the history of the world.

And to conclude, I would like to stress the keenness of Saudi Arabia and its commitments that there will be a political process in Yemen that will lead to the solution of this crisis peacefully. We are looking forward to the coming Riyadh conference that will be held on the 17th of May. It’s – our Yemeni brothers are discussing their internal affairs, and based on the initiatives and the results of their dialogue. We welcome any efforts done by the United Nations in holding talks between the concerned Yemeni parties anywhere in the world. We’re looking at this – that it will be a support to the efforts we are making in Riyadh conference, because objective is to come to a peaceful solution in Yemen.

Thank you and thank the Secretary for his visit to Saudi Arabia, and for the constructive talks between us.

You may have the floor, Your Excellency

Contact

The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037